


Long May She Reign

by Songbirdorlioness



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Coronation Fic, F/M, Gratuitous Author Headcanons, The Author Regrets Nothing, Zutara Month, Zutara month 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 18:50:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12941496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Songbirdorlioness/pseuds/Songbirdorlioness
Summary: Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara, Long May They Reign.





	Long May She Reign

**Author's Note:**

> I am sleep deprived.
> 
> Featuring: my head canons and backstories and spirits and all that jazz.

Zuko’s wedding was something he would never forget. It was the affair of the century and the first royal wedding since the peace so it stood to reason, that it would be an international event of epic proportions.

 

A ceremony in the South Pole, followed by the traditional Fire Nation royal wedding, followed by marriage blessings from the Earth Kingdom and New Air Nomads as well.  Following this, Zuko and Katara were to journey to the ancient Sun Temple. Officially, this would be a spiritual pilgrimage to pay their respects to the ancestors and spirits of the Fire Nation, but for those who knew the truth, Zuko and Katara were to meet the old Masters and perform an ancient blessing and wedding ceremony in accordance to one of the lost ancient traditions of the Fire Nation, from the days when the Sun Warriors were not hidden away.

 

If Zuko could choose a moment to remember for the rest of his life, he would choose the moment he and Katara knelt, hands bound to one another by a water-soaked cloth of red silk, at pinnacle of the Masters’ mountain and Ran and Shaw surrounded them in sacred fire. Katara’s blue eyes became a rainbow of colour, all the fiery colours swirling in an ocean. Her skin glowed in the bright light and the heat that surrounded them and in that moment nothing had mattered except the fire around them and the woman in his arms. 

 

With the Masters’ blessings, Zuko and Katara returned to the Fire Nation for the event Zuko was anticipating most. Katara’s coronation.

 

While much of the wedding planning was left to Katara, Zuko was left to plan the first Consort’s Coronation since the reign of his great-great-great-grandfather, Fire Lord Zhi. 

 

Most of the time when a Fire Lord was crowned, the Fire Lady would be crowned with him, as the heir was usually wed when they succeeded the throne. But if the Fire Lord married after his coronation, a second, lavish and extensive ceremony went with the wedding, where the Fire Lady would be crowned.

 

The tradition of the Consort’s Coronation was as old as the Fire Nation monarchy itself, and yet, it had not been practiced since the crowning of Fire Lady Xue. Fire Lord Zhi had come into power very young, following the assassination of his father and so when he married, Xue was crowned on her own. 

 

Stories of this event were still told today. Fire Lady Xue had been much loved, and it was her influence that brought about many progressive changes for the working classes. 

 

When it fell upon Zuko to plan the Coronation, he carefully wove old tradition with new ideas that reflected the world today and he hoped beyond hope Katara would be pleased. She knew her part by heart. Each word, each step, each movement required of her, she had spent hours on end practicing in the lead up to their wedding and Zuko couldn’t be more excited to cement her position in the country that he loved.

Katara was resplendent in a gown of thickly-layered dark blue gossamer, the modified crimson of the Fire Lady’s robes, draped artfully over her shoulders and cinched at her waist with a golden belt embroidered with dragons. 

 

The skirts moved about her as though she was gliding on ice, rippling around her as she moved like water.

 

She walked through the parted crowd of the plaza with her head held high and a smile on her face as she approached the dais where her husband and the Fire Sages waited. 

 

Katara knelt gracefully on the velvet pillow at the centre of the dais, skirts artfully pooled around her. This would be the last time she knelt for anyone. Once she rose she would be Fire Lady and the Fire Lady kneels for no one but the Spirits. She would sit beside her husband as his equal and be knelt to instead. 

 

The vows she took were long and traditional and extensive but Katara’s smooth and confident voice carried them easily to the entire crowd. And then came the final patch. The Four Vows and Four Blessings. Words that Zuko and Katara and written and rewritten over and over in order to create something that matched Zuko’s own oath and ensuring that the vows would steer clear of the violent undertones that had come with the old words.

 

“I vow to protect and uphold the most sacred values of the fire nation, it’s heart and it’s people. 

 

I beg the blessings of the Spirit of the Hearth to guide me with her sacred flame.

 

I vow to act and defend peace foremost and this country against any and all that would seek to do harm. 

 

I beg the blessing of the First Master, the Dragon Mother, to bring me strength and guide my hand. 

 

I vow to walk beside my people, and lead the way towards the future, towards prosperity and towards the sun.

 

I beg the blessing of Agni himself, to light the way forward, so the Future may burn brightly.

 

And I vow to the world, before the Spirits, that I will uphold peace, and never allow such horrors to pass as those of the past, with all the fire in me.

 

I beg the blessings of the Spirits of the Four Winds, to clear the path ahead and fill the sails of progress so that none may fall behind; of the Spirits of the Land, to bring fertile growth and steady paths beneath so none my starve or stumble and finally I beg the blessings of Tui and La, to light the night and wash away the darkness and pain, to heal and soothe, and bring all ships home safely, so that none may lose their way.

 

I vow this as Fire Lady, Spirits as my witness.”

 

She was perfect. 

 

The Fire Lady’s crown slid into her topknot perfectly, waiting for the final piece.

 

Zuko removed the second crown from the pillar behind him, one he had made specially for her and placed it on her head. Three carved white bones, silver crystals draping between them to hold in place a moon stone above the flame, sat on Katara’s head and shone.

 

“Rise, Master Katara, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, Hero of the Hundred Year War, you are crowned Fire Lady Katara, Long may you reign.

 

Katara rose and took her place beside Zuko while the Head Fire Sage announced.

 

“Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara, Long May They Reign”

 

The echoed shouts from the crowd were deafening. 

  
  
  



End file.
